This copy of Dorset Life in Poole is presented
to you with the compliments of Dorset Life –
The Dorset Magazine: Dorset's independent and
longest-established county magazine.

Dorset Life
in POOLE 2013/14

Dorset Life – The Dorset Magazine celebrates the
best of Dorset in words and pictures every
month. Within the pages of each issue is the
history, landscape, villages, people, presentday activities, wildlife, historic buildings and
gardens of Dorset, Poole and Bournemouth.
Presented to the highest standards of editorial,
photographic and printing quality, by a small
team Dorset Life – The Dorset Magazine
is essential reading for everyone with a love of,
or an interest in, Dorset.

On the waterfront
An insider's view of Poole Museum.....................41
More than a hi-viz deterrent
On patrol with Poole's Safer Neighbourhood Team.45
From blank canvas to old master
147 years of Poole Quay chandlers Piplers..............49

Do you own a tablet or smartphone?

Cover: Poole Quay; centre-spread: Twin Sails Bridge by Phil Jackson

If you have an iOS or Android device, you can now
download the free Dorset Life App, view a free sample
magazine and then buy individual issues of the appbased version of Dorset Life – The Dorset Magazine.
For more details, visit www.dorsetlife.co.uk/app or
search 'Dorset Life' on the iTunes or Google Play stores.

IF THIS DOESN’T
STOP YOU,
THIS SHOULD.
XF RANGE FROM £29,945.
Now you can have the performance and craftsmanship of the award-winning
XF saloon with extra space and versatility – the Jaguar XF Sportbrake.
Standard features on the XF range include:
đƫƫĉġ/,!! ƫ!(!0.+*%ƫ10+)0%ƫ0.*/)%//%+*ƫ3%0$ƫ
#1.ƫ!-1!*0%(ƫ$%"0Ĵ
ƫđƫƫ*#!ƫ+"ƫ!*#%*!/ƫ3%0$ƫ *0!((%#!*0ƫ0+,ĥ0.0ƫ"+.ƫ%),.+2! ƫ"1!(ƫ!þ%!*5
ƫđƫƫ
#1..%2!ƫ+*0.+(Ĵƫ0+ƫ,!./+*(%/!ƫ5+1.ƫ .%2%*#ƫ!4,!.%!*!
đƫ%ġ"1*0%+*ƫ ƫ!*+*ƫ$! (),/
đƫ
+ /,!ƫ+"ƫ1,ƫ0+ƫāČćĈĆƫ(%0.!/ƫĨƫ,+.0.'!ĩ
Contact us today to book your test drive.

WESTOVER POOLE
WESTOVER HOUSE, WEST QUAY ROAD, POOLE BH15 1JF

WWW.WESTOVER.POOLE.JAGUAR.CO.UK
01202 974948
HOW ALIVE ARE YOU?

Official fuel consumption for the Jaguar XF range in mpg (l/100km): Urban from 16.7 (16.9) to 48.7 (5.8).
Extra Urban from 32.8 (8.6) to 64.2 (4.4). Combined from 24.4 (11.6) to 57.7 (4.9). CO2 Emissions from 270
to 129 (g/km).
On the road price is the Manufacturer’s Recommended Retail Price plus Car Tax, First Registration Fee and Delivery Pack. The ﬁgures provided are as a
result of official manufacturer’s tests in accordance with EU legislation. A vehicle’s actual fuel consumption may differ from that achieved in such tests and
these ﬁgures are for comparative purposes only. Models shown are XF Saloon Diesel S Premium Luxury and XF Sportbrake Diesel S Premium Luxury with
20” Kalimnos Gloss Black alloy wheels and Black Pack. Recommended on-road price for XF Saloon (including options): £47,775. Recommended on-road
price for XF Sportbrake (including options): £50,375.

Poole Park photo essay
Joël Lacey wanders round Poole's largest public space
Just under twenty percent of Poole, by area, is
occupied by Poole's three main public parks: Hamworthy
Park (27 acres), Upton Country Park (100 acres), and
Poole Park (109 acres). All three hold the prestigious
Green Flag award and, as well as being the biggest of
the three, Poole Park is the oldest. It was built on land
donated by Lord Wimborne and opened in 1890 by the
then Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII.

Nearly two thirds of the park is actually water, with
the Poole Park Lake forming the lion's share of that
figure. The lake is a mix of saline and fresh water – more
accurately of brackish water from Poole Harbour, local
surface water drainage run-off and rainwater. There are
sluice gates at the railway embankment, through which
– during the spring tides only – water can be exchanged
between the lake and harbour.

Above The iconic leaning
Scots pine is reminiscent
of Japanese trees in the
Imperial Palace in Tokyo
Below The lakeside
restaurant, Sevens Boat
Shed, looks out over
the relatively recently
installed reed beds

5

OVER 1,500 ITEMS OF CLASSIC FURNISHINGS IN STOCK & MORE THAN 5,000 DESIGNS TO ORDER

View this item in your home
along with an unlimited
number of others with our
unrivalled home approval
service. Call for details.

Rug Cleaning
We offer a specialist professional deep
cleaning service for all hand woven
oriental and contemporary rugs and
tapestries. The majority of odours and
stains can be removed.

As well as the boating lake â&#x20AC;&#x201C; which has a separate
section for model boats and yachts, and where one can
hire full-sized dinghies, pedalos, kayaks, windsurfing
boards and rowing boats â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Poole Park also has a
miniature railway, a miniature golf course and a fullsized bowls club and tennis courts. The tennis club
also has some LTA-approved mini-red courts esecially
designed for younger players.
In terms of natural life, the park is splendidly planted
with specimens from all over the world, has a wide
selection of mature trees and possesses a vigorous
population of wildfowl and visiting birds.

Above There are lots of shady
places for picnics on hot days,
and the trees are worth looking
at for their sculptural detail
Right In line with the World War
1 memorial and between it and
Parkstone Road is a rose garden
and memorial to those who
fought in Burma during World
War 2
Below Non-native grasses
add visual and aural interest,
particularly when the breeze
picks up

7

Poole Park: a photo essay

Above The imposing World War 1 memorial, backlit by a crisp autumn sun,
stands in its own path-crossed garden
Below The entrance to the immaculate greens of the park's bowling club

8

Top A small section of blanket weed
Middle This ornamental fountain was erected in 1990 to mark the centenary of the park's opening
Above One of the many water-borne fowl to call Poole Park home

Dumpton School
Wimborne
Independent Day School for
Girls and Boys aged 2ô to 13 years

50 scholarships to senior schools
in the last two years

‘Outstanding’ Ofsted Inspection
for the Foundation Stage

‘Excellent’ ISI Inspection in every category

‘You can
because you think you can’
The school motto lies at the cornerstone of our teaching

Our elegant and sophisticated fine dining
restaurant is situated on the first floor of this
historic landmark. We pride ourselves on our
outstanding reputation for both culinary
excellence and service.
All our dishes are freshly prepared to order,
sourcing only high quality local produce. We cater
for all occasions, from a romantic meal for two,
special birthdays or for larger parties and
weddings. Our staff are commited to providing
friendly and efficient service to guarantee a
memorable experience.

Watch the world drift by whilst relaxing in
our café bar on the water's edge. Our menu
caters for all appetites serving from a selection
of locally caught oysters, perfectly steamed
mussels as well as West Country reared beef.
Our attentive staff will cater to your every need
from expertly mixed cocktails, extensive wine list
or freshly ground coffee. Whether it is breakfast,
lunch, dinner or sundowners, share your
experience with us and others at the Custom
House. You won't be disappointed.
Just sit back, relax and enjoy the view.

Why I love...

Poole Quay
Those who visit and work on
the quayside explain what is so
special about it
Becky Knight – works on the Quay
I suppose my favourite time of year is early in the summer when everything
starts to get going for the season and it starts to get busy in the Welcome
Centre, but I like the fact that it's completely different in the winter and
summer. there's always things to do and though it's almost impossible to pick
out one thing, I'd recommend that everyone goes for a cruise around the
harbour to get a real feel for Poole. The area around the quay is a wonderful
mix of small businesses and nationally famous ones like Lush and Sunseeker.

Peter Brice – comes fishing 3-4 times a week
I moved to Poole a couple of years ago when I
retired and I just love coming down to the Quay.
It's bustling, but peaceful at the same time. I used
to be a long-distance lorry driver and used to come
through Poole and I said I'd come and live here
when I retired. I fish with mealworm but I've caught
nothing today – the water's running too fast, but
yesterday I caught a 3lb plaice, a wrasse and a bass.
The dog loves it round here too and sometimes he'll
swim part of the way home as I walk.

David Hedgeman – Co-owner of cruise boat operator
Although the company started in the 1880s, we've (it's still a family-run
firm) been involved for about 17 years; it was on our boats that BadenPowell took six boys from Poole and six from Sandbanks to mix with a load
of public schoolboys for the first camp. The feeling of being in a familyfriendly atmosphere has increased as the port has had less in the way of
sailors and stevedores and more in the way of families coming. There's been
lots of work done by Poole Tourism and there are regular events to keep
the quay busy and all the local businesses work together to make sure it's a
great place for families.
11

W

hile most people are aware of the existence of Inheritance
Tax (IHT), it is a subject which gives rise to some distaste or
lack of interest and many, not surprisingly, would rather delay
consideration of the matter. So few people do anything about
their potential IHT liability, the result is that HM Revenue
& Customs (HMRC) collected ÂŁ3.1 billion for 2012/2013 alone
(source HMRC Annual Report & Accounts 2012-13).

Inheritance Tax
could pose a threat
to your prosperity...

We can create and implement highly effective tax-minimisation
strategies, with a particular emphasis on reducing your estateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
liability to Inheritance Tax.
An investment with St. Jamesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Place will be directly linked to the
performance of the funds selected and may fall as well as rise.You
may get back less than the amount invested.
For further information, please call for dates of forthcoming
IHT seminars or to request your complimentary guide to
Inheritance Tax, contact:

The Partner Practice represents only St. Jamesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Place Wealth Management plc (which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority) for the purpose of
advising solely on the Groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wealth management products and services, more details of which are set out on the Groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website www.sjp.co.uk/products.
The title â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Partner Practiceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is the marketing term used to describe St. Jamesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Place representatives.

Coxswain Jon Clark
(centre) with the crew
for a fundraising event
at Poole Quay (Anthony
Skerman, back row right)

Nick Churchill goes behind the scenes at Poole's RNLI station
When Jon Clark says he has to take his passport if
he goes more than a mile inland, he’s only half joking.
Coxswain of Poole Lifeboats, he lives barely 100 metres
from the station on the Town Quay in the shadow of the
lifting bridge and for the last 26 years has worked at
Sunseeker directly opposite.
Given that he insists a lifeboat can be launched in six
to eight minutes from Poole, it’s a rare day indeed that
he finds himself more than a mile inland.
‘I can’t use the multi-storey car park in town because
I couldn’t get here in time,’ he tells me. He’s not
complaining, it’s a matter of fact. It goes with the surf.
‘I always make sure the car is parked the right way
in case I need to go. I have my keys ready and a set of
all weather clothes I can change into if the pager goes
and we’re on a shout. Everyone gets the shout, that’s 36
listed crew and then I or the helmsman will decide on
the crew when we get to the station and we know what
the job is – if it’s a gluey night you want your strongest,
most experienced seamen if it’s a big medical shout you
need your first aiders, every job is different.’
Jon’s commitment is absolute. Next year marks the
30th anniversary of his enrolment on the crew at the
minimum age of 17, but the lifeboat is in his blood. His
father John was second coxswain at Poole so he’s never
known any different. His wife Anne-Marie is the station’s
volunteer press officer and their 12-year-old son Noah

insists he’s going to follow his dad into the service.
‘My whole life is on the water. It’s my work, my
passion and my pleasure – I’ve got a fishing boat as well.
When I step away from this it’s going to leave a big hole
for me that’s going to be difficult to fill.’
The future has yet to be decided, but Jon feels
change is inevitable. He’s only the 12th coxswain in
the history of Poole’s lifeboats and in his time he’s
known three of its four stations – the old boathouse at
Fisherman’s Quay where his father began his service, the
station at Salterns Marina and its current home on the
Quay – and several lifeboats including the two currently
based at the station, City of Sheffield, a Tyne class
all-weather lifeboat and Sgt Bob Martin, an Atlantic 85
inshore lifeboat (ILB).
‘Poole has been launching lifeboats for nearly 150
years and there’s always been change, things progress
– systems get better, technology is improved and the
training that’s given is sublime, there’s nothing on Earth
like it, what they teach us about navigation and search
patterns is immense.
‘Why do I do it? It’s because I’m really good at it,
basically. Some people take a lot out of the community,
but I think the people associated with the lifeboats are
the kind that likes to give something back. I don’t do
this for badges and awards. My wife tells me I should
promote it more, but other than a few things for local
13

Dave Riley/RNLI

media I don’t want the attention.
‘There’s a letter up there on the wall from a chap we
went out to recently. He was on a yacht with all his
family when it suffered compete mechanical failure, he
lost his electrics, everything. We got him back and he
wrote me a letter to thank us. That means everything
to me because not everyone is grateful believe it or not.
He also enclosed a fat cheque for the RNLI, which was
decent of him as well.’
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is funded
Dave Riley/RNLI

Tyne class all-weather
lifeboat City of Sheffield
training with the
coastguard helicopter

entirely by donations and legacies, none of the crew
is paid, all are volunteers. Poole’s lifeboat station, like
the country’s other 235 stations, is also volunteer-run
although it does support one full-time paid position –
the station mechanic.
‘It’s a big operation,’ says Jon. ‘That crew is probably
100-odd people when you include the launching
officials, support workers, sea safety officers, lifeguards,
fundraisers, they’re amazing people. It’s like a big family
and everyone has to fit in with that family. That’s not
me being selfish, that’s the station being selfish if you
like, that’s what it needs to run.’
The wealth of Jon’s experience is invaluable to his
crew and the station as a whole. Whether on a shout,
turning up for fundraising activities, or meeting the
public, there’s not much he hasn’t seen or fished out of
the water.
At 18, trainee Anthony Skerman has it all to learn.
An apprentice on a lifeboat maintenance course at the
RNLI College, he joined the Poole crew a year ago and
after passing his basic competency training has ten
shouts under belt. His father Richard, who also works at
Sunseeker, is second mechanic and helmsman on Poole’s
ILB. His grandfather Paul volunteers in the Old Lifeboat
Museum in the boathouse on Fisherman’s Quay.
‘Like Jon, I’ve grown up with the lifeboats. I’m really
proud of what dad’s done and I wanted to carry it on,
but it’s a big commitment and I didn’t make up my
mind to do it until I was nearly 17. Dad used to ask if I
wanted to join, but he didn’t pressure me at all. I love
the water and there’s a big satisfaction in going out,
helping someone and getting back safely.
‘Growing up, it was always understood that dad might
have to go out – we’d just sit down to Sunday dinner
and the pager would go so he would go off and we had
no idea when he’d be back. That’s normal for me, but it’s
not until you join that you really understand what it is
to be on the crew. You have to fit in and get on because
when you’re out there in the dark you need to know you
can rely on everyone around you and they need to know
they can rely on you.’
Jon smiles knowingly as he listens to Anthony, he’s
heard it before and he’ll not tire of hearing it again, it’s
the stuff the station is built on.
He adds: ‘When people, even Poole people, think
of Poole RNLI they usually think of the headquarters
building, the RNLI College and the boat building, but
that’s a different beast to us. We’re a lifeboat station
just like all the others. We’re just a small cog that makes
the whole thing turn – I just happen to think our cog is
the best!’
Contacts
www.poole-lifeboats.org.uk, Twitter: @poolelifeboats
Facebook: Poole Lifeboat Station

Jane Jones – Lived in Ashley Cross 'A long time' and,
for 13 years, organiser of the Party in the Park
I moved here for work twenty-five years ago and
have lived in the area ever since. I love it because
there's such a strong community atmosphere. It's
leafy, we're close to the sea, close to Bournemouth
and Poole without being in the town centre.
We started with 'Brunch in the park', but the event
has grown and grown to be a two-day festival with
something for everyone from toddlers to 80-year
olds. All our food for the event comes from the
lovely local bars and restaurants and they all do
something slightly different – we get overtures from
other caterers outside the area, but we like it to be
a really local event, with all ten of the bands playing
over the two days coming from Dorset. Night-times,
especially Fridays, are busy as lots of people come to
eat and drink in Ashley Cross. In general I describe
it as a friendly, very much a community atmosphere
where everyone knows everyone else.

Debbie Perkins – local trader for eight years
There's lots of lovely businesses round here and
the locals are brilliant. Some of my customers
have asked why I haven't moved to a bigger retail
centre, but I wouldn't because I love this area.
We're not on the internet; we are, like a lot of
small businesses round here, focused on personal
service – even the banks are really helpful – and
I try to buy as much myself round here as I can.
There's definitely a community feeling where we
all look out for each other – taking in parcels and
so on and it's definitely the place to come for an
evening; there's great food and drink round here.

Ashley Cross
What's the attraction of this part of Lower
Parkstone? Dorset Life in Poole finds out.

Clare Vincent – Lived in Ashley Cross for seven years
It's a really good place for families to live. When we were
thinking about moving down to the area, we walked into
an estate agent (not actually in Lower Parkstone) who
asked about our circumstances and, after we'd described
them, he said: "You need to move to Ashley Cross". He
was right. It's got a very villagey feel. You bump into
everyone and the park is a real bonus, and the parking is
cheap as chips round here.
17

18

Where to go,
What to see
Events and attractions around Poole

Winter Exhibition
Poole and East Dorset Art Society (PEDAS) comprises some 110
members, both amateur and professional. It also runs The Gallery
Upstairs for the Borough of Poole on a voluntary basis. Above the
tearooms in the grounds of Upton Country Park, the non-profitmaking gallery provides an ideal exhibition space for the local
community and every year hosts the PEDAS Winter Exhibition.
With such a large, diverse membership the exhibition promises a
range of artistic styles from textile art to sculpture and painting
(including Winter Red by Sally Holland, pictured here).
20 November – 7 January, 10.30 The Gallery Upstairs, Upton
Country Park, 07906 759620, www.thegalleryupstairs.org.uk

Christmas Walks – Brownsea Island
The National Trust is celebrating 50 years on Brownsea Island with
an outdoor festival this autumn and winter. Famously, Brownsea
is one of the last strongholds of the red squirrel in southern
England and is also home
to internationally important
populations of terns, wildfowl
and wading birds. The guided
Christmas walks need to be
booked in advance and ticket
holders must catch the 10.30
boat from Sandbanks and the
noon departure from Brownsea.
1, 8, 15 December, 10.30 Brownsea Island, 01202 707744,
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/browsea-island

Jack and the Beanstalk
Lighthouse will be full of beans this
Christmas as Jack is up to his old tricks
again. As ever, the Trotts are in trouble
and when Jack goes to sell his beloved cow
all he can get is a bag of beans; when they
sprout they don’t stop, and before long
he’s in more trouble than he could have
imagined.
Donning Jack’s tights this year is the
Poole-based star of The Impressions Show
and Coronation Street, Debra Stephenson
who warmed up for the role by reading
Jack and the Beanstalk at her daughter
Zoe’s school.
‘Fairy tales form part of the National
Curriculum in Year 1, which is why I was in
Zoe’s school to read Jack and the Beanstalk,’ she says.
‘It struck me that Jack was up to no good for part of it at least
so at the end I felt I had to add a disclaimer that we don’t condone
Jack’s behaviour and his stealing!’
For Debra, working at Lighthouse will feel strange, she says: ‘We
come to Lighthouse quite a lot to see different things so it will
be odd coming to work in a place I’m more used to coming to
for entertainment. It’s lovely to be home for Christmas, of course'
and I love having the kids come to see the show.’
6 December – 5 January, various times Lighthouse, Poole,
0844 406 8666, www.lighthousepoole.co.uk

Exhibition: Bernard Gribble
One of the best-known Poole artists of the 20th century, Bernard
Gribble lived in Parkstone for many years before his death in 1962.
The exhibition at Poole Museum focuses on his work as a
maritime painter, particularly his work as one of the principal
painters of the war at sea. He was commissioned by King George
V and the US Navy to paint grand naval pictures and, as such, was
an eyewitness of the sinking of the German fleet at Scapa Flow.
His work was collected by Theodore Roosevelt and Jackie Onassis
and hung in the Oval Office at the White House. The exhibition
provides a unique opportunity to see work from the Borough of
Poole’s own Gribble collection, the largest in the world, alongside
loans from private and public collections, including the National
Maritime Museum and the RNLI, with which Gribble was closely
associated. Although Gribble’s impressionistic style has been out
of fashion for some time and his work is rarely seen, perhaps the
inclusion of this show as an early event in the official First World
War Centenary Programme, led by Imperial War Museums, will allow
it to be seen in a new light.
Until 16 February, 10.00 (Tues-Sat, Sun noon) Poole Museum,
01202 262600, www.boroughofpoole.com

Compton Acres
These gardens constitute a genuine Poole treasure. Restoration
has seen 200 plant species added, extensive tree work in the
Wooded Valley and new areas created in the main gardens.
Compton Acres is open until 9.00 every Wednesday up to
Christmas, with Father Christmas in his grotto from 4.00-7.30
and carols from 6.00-7.30 on 6 and 13 December. Breakfast
with Father Christmas is on Saturday mornings, 7, 14, 21
December, as well as 23 December and Christmas Eve, with
afternoon tea with the jolly chap on 22 December from 4.00.
Daily, 10.00 (except Christmas Day and Boxing Day)
Compton Acres, Poole, 01202 700778, www.comptonacres.co.uk
19

Where to go and what to see
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Former principal conductor Andrew Litton returns to the BSO
to take the baton for the Russian Masters concert programme.
Rimsky-Korsakov's ‘The Snow Maiden'
suite invokes an enchanted world of ice
and cold that bursts with birdsong and
finishes with the popular ‘Dance of the
Tumblers’. Pianist Barry Douglas is the
featured soloist for Tchaikovsky’s First
Piano Concerto; Shostakovich’s Sixth
Symphony completes the bill with its
robust blend of searing intensity and
black humour.
15 January, 7.30 Lighthouse, Poole, 0844
406 8666, www.lighthousepoole.co.uk

Father Christmas Parade
Once again, the crowds will gather on the Quay to welcome Father
Christmas on his arrival in Poole and follow his progress as he
travels along the high street to take up residence in the traditional
Dolphin shopping centre grotto.
The fun continues that day at Lighthouse with a very special
seasonal treat, the Family Christmas Experience.
There’s a shopping village in the concert hall, as well as a food
market and the chance to order your Christmas bird. The cinema
hosts short film screenings and Father Christmas will make several
appearances on stage throughout the day.
The Bovington group of the Military Wives Choirs will be
performing, as will Mary Poppins, and there’s a children’s fun zone,
with stilt walking, magic and juggling shows, balloon modelling,
Buttons the clown, face painting and the chance to ice your own
Christmas cupcakes.
17 November, 10.30 Poole Quay, www.pooletourism
17 November, 11.00 Lighthouse, Poole, 0844 406 8666,
www.lighthousepoole.co.uk

Humbug Day

Poole Harbour is home to a unique area of wetland. The harbour
and nearby Canford Heath are specially protected Ramsar sites with
18 sites of special scientific interest that provide a home to an
ever-changing ensemble of wild birds, including up to 40,000 winter
waders and the UK’s largest wintering avocet flock (pictured).
The Bird Boats find RSPB experts on hand to point out some
highlights among the cast of thousands, including avocets,
oystercatchers, great crested grebes and shelducks, as well as the
many other species that live in and around Poole Harbour.
There are great bird watching opportunities along Holes
Bay, Shore Road and Harbourside Park as well – not least the
spectacular flocks of starlings in action over Sterte Esplanade in
January and February. Upton Country Park also offers plenty of
scope to see wildlife out in the open, not only on the shoreline,
but also the mudflats and marshes or you might see redwing
and fieldfare feasting on the park’s berries and fruit. There’s a
live webcam monitoring the wildlife at Brownsea Island Lagoon
offering enthralling views of the avocet or the less populous, but
easily identifiable spoonbill. You might even catch a glimpse of
rare migrants such as common crane, Caspian tern and western
sandpiper.
More on birdlife in Poole at www.pooletourism.com/wings
Bird Boats
(Information on all of the following can be obtained by calling
01202 641003 or visiting www.birdsofpooleharbour.co.uk)
Wareham Channel: 8 December, 10.30 Starts from Poole Quay;
Brownsea Landing: 24 November, 5, 19 January, 10.30 Starts
from Poole Quay;
Poole Harbour Tour: 2, 19 February, 10.30 Starts from Poole Quay
Monthly Walks
30 November, 8.00 Starts from Brands Bay layby on the Studland
Ferry Road
9 December, 1.00 At Arne RSPB Reserve
birdsofpooleharbour.co.u

Representing a lifetime’s dedication to steam, meticulously
assembled by Richard Knott, the Luscombe Valley Steam Collection
comprises a five-inch gauge, passenger-carrying railway as well
as a traction engine, steam lorry, full-sized steam car and 30-foot
steam launch. The collection is based in the grounds of Richard's
home, which is open to the public just four times a year. This year
the Knotts are supporting Lewis Manning Hospice in Poole and the
proceeds of the Luscombe Valley summer gala allowed them to add
more than £5300 to their total for the year. Humbug Day on 21
December presents an opportunity to meet Father Christmas while
riding the rails and generally getting into the spirit of the season.
21 December, 11.00 Luscombe Valley Steam Collection,
www.luscombevalleysteam.com

Visit the working studio and meet our
Throwers, Artists and Designers. Watch
demonstrations of pot throwing and
decorating.
Feel inspired?
Have a go at
painting your
own masterpiece!
Fun for all
from £6

y
uaargains
B

Relax in our
Pottery Café on the
he
ﬁrst ﬂoor
Free Entry - Open Daily*

Discover the largest collection
of Poole Pottery in the world, including
Giftware, Lighting, Studio Pieces,
Quality Seconds and Vintage

A truly unique Island
Holiday Experience
Situated in the sheltered western portion of Poole Harbour
with breathtaking views of the Purbeck Hills, Corfe Castle
and the RSPB Reserve at Arne, privately owned Round Island
provides a very unique holiday experience for bird lovers,
boat owners and anyone seeking peace and tranquillity in this
beautiful part of Dorset.

Guest cottages located close to the pier
and beach. Own patios and BBQ areas,
plus separate â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;wet roomsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; with shower.
Accommodates 4, 6 or 8 persons.
Refurbished in 2009, decorated and
furnished to a high standard, stunning
harbour views.
Television, fridge freezers, BBQ, washing
machines, dishwashers and microwaves.
For more details call 01202 882885
FNBJMJOGP!SPVOEJTMBOEDPVLXXXSPVOEJTMBOEDPVL

Poole's village hall
Nick Churchill looks at the vast
array of community events and
workshops that take place at
Lighthouse
It’s the biggest public meeting space in Poole and a
cornerstone of the town’s cultural life, but Lighthouse
is also a hotbed of community activity even when its
theatre and concert spaces are dark. From afternoon
tea dancers to Friday morning French conversationalists,
somebody is up to something most days.
‘It’s like Poole’s equivalent of a village hall,’ says
Marion Brown from the Tuesday knit and stitch group
Purlesque. ‘Meeting places like Lighthouse are few
and far between, especially in towns and I think it’s
wonderful to see the building being used in this way, it
gives it a life outside of the shows.’
Lighthouse dominates Poole town centre, a monument
to mid-20th century utilitarianism, albeit softened by a
striking early 21st century refurbishment.
‘The very stature of Lighthouse itself is a testament
to the visionary cultural thinking of our forefathers that
they considered Poole a place of culture deserving of
something that size,’ says chief executive Elspeth McBain.
‘It is central to the town’s identity, how it perceives
itself and how it presents itself to the rest of the world.
But it’s more than bricks and mortar. Lighthouse is where
local people express themselves artistically – around 18
per cent of our programme is community-based with
local choirs, amateur dramatics, art groups.’
And those groups reflect the diversity of the
Lighthouse user every bit as effectively as the audiences
for its increasingly eclectic programme of shows.
Linda Higson, administrator for Resonate,
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s education and
participation team, has organised afternoon tea dances
for more than 15 years. A place for more senior residents
of Poole to come together and enjoy an afternoon of live
music and dance, the event has evolved over the years.
‘I’m absolutely thrilled with the way it has grown – at
first it was a small group of 10 or 20 quite isolated
people, but now we can accommodate up to 90 dancers
in the Lighthouse function rooms. Nearly everyone that
comes is 60-plus and some have special needs, including
people living with dementia. Music is often their last
remaining link to their memories so when they hear
music they remember the words to the songs and all
sorts of things.
‘We had one elderly gentleman recently who came to
us from a home in Broadstone. He had no expression in
his face and couldn’t speak. He could only communicate
through his eyes and fingers. His carer said he was
loving it, though I wouldn’t be able to notice it. When
he left I went to shake his hand and he took my hand

Dance4All offers lessons
in street dance to young
and old every Thursday

Dorset Acting School in
rehearsal

23

Poole's village hall

Afternoon tea dancers
take over the Concert Hall
at Lighthouse

A knitted seascape from
the sailing tableau created
by Purlesque from the
Olympics last year

in his, held it to his lips and kissed it. It was one of the
loveliest things that ever happened here. Moments like
that make everything worthwhile, that’s why I love my
job.’
The Purlesque ladies love a challenge. Last year
they knitted a clothes line for the panto and a knitted
greenhouse, not to mention a tableau of Weymouth for
the Olympics.
‘We get together to knit, crochet, sew and have a
good chat,’ explains Marion Brown. ‘It goes way beyond
knitting if I’m honest. We’re like a little support group
for each other – we share things that have happened to
us, problems, ideas. If someone’s poorly we send cards
and flowers.’
At the other end of the age range, Stella Mavris runs
Dance4All (DFA) offering street dance classes for adults
and youngsters every Thursday. DFA dancers recently
joined the Jackson Live touring show at Lighthouse
performing ‘Thriller’ with the renowned Michael Jackson
tribute artist Ben.
‘I know from my own kids – I’ve an 11-year-old boy
and three-year-old girl, both mad about dance – that

youngsters involved with dance have always got a focus
because there’s always a show or a performance. It
means they’re not bored and when they’re not bored they
don’t have to go and hang around and get in trouble.
‘Street dance has developed quite a lot over the years.
It’s much more acrobatic now and it removes the stigma
about boys dancing, which can only be a good thing.
There’s a freedom about street dance. It’s not like ballet,
tap and modern where they’re always working towards
grades. We make lots of room for freestyle – when
dancers create their own choreography and just do their
own thing. There are no wrong moves in street dance.’
Sharing elements of DFA’s emphasis on inclusion, the
Dorset School of Acting runs a youth theatre for ages
three to 21, but also has as a one-year intensive acting
qualification registered with Trinity College London for
those about to go to drama school.
‘We take a very realistic view of the profession to
prepare students for what they’ll encounter, but I was
previously head of drama at Poole Grammar School and
I’m a great believer that drama is for everyone,’ says
co-founder and principal, James Bowden.
‘It should be inclusive so we start off very broad and
from age 14 onwards the training aspect becomes more
pronounced, in much the same way as it would if you
progress through a sports team.
‘The fact that we are a drama school based in a
working theatre is of enormous importance. There are
some fantastic shows at Lighthouse and our students
get to see they’re on, so the theatre can reach out to a
young audience. Obviously there are many visiting actors
and artists and we’re able to get some in to do Q&A
sessions with our students. Patrick O’Kane who is playing
Fleshcreep in panto at Lighthouse this year, but is an
award-winning serious actor, has done some teaching
with us and it’s that kind of link that benefits our
students.’
There’s none of the intensity one might associate
with acting in evidence as Poole Leisure Painters gather
on Tuesdays and Fridays. Theirs is a world of oil and
watercolour, brush and pen, but mostly it’s where
members become friends and share their works in
progress.
‘We love being at Lighthouse, it feels like our home,’
says the group’s chair Pam Judd.
‘There are about 80 of us and we operate a short
waiting list to join. We’ve been coming for 30 years and
I always say if we could pick the ideal membership from
all the people in the world we’d have the membership
we have now. It’s perfect.’
INFORMATION ON EVENTS AT LIGHTHOUSE:
Tea Dances: 12 November, 23 January, 20 March, 2.00
Lighthouse, Poole, 0844 406 8666.
Purlesque: Marion Brown, 07963 163746
DFA: Stella Mavris, 07881 468967,
www.dancefourall.co.uk
The Dorset School of Acting: James Bowden, 01202
922675, www.dorsetschoolofacting.co.uk
Poole Leisure Painters: Pam Judd, 01202 741713,
wwwpooleleisurepainters.co.uk

24

Now open:
the latest in
luxury care
home living

At the newly opened Potteries
we redeďŹ ne care home living by
ensuring that fresh thinking and
luxury go hand in hand with the
latest in expert, tailored elderly care.
Each resident receives the very
highest standard of one-to-one
attention, from nursing and
The Potteries
187 York Road, Broadstone
Poole BH18 8ES
0333 321 0929
careuk.com/the-potteries

residential care, through to specialist
dementia and respite care. All
provided by our compassionate,
highly experienced team.
If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking for the very best in
quality care for your loved one, come
and visit us today.

C

ome and visit the unique collection of designer fashions available in all
sizes from 10 to 30 at Figure Eight this winter and complement your
outﬁt from our range of hats, bags, wraps and stunning jewellery.

Excellent Education
Enriching Environment
At Yarrells, we combine academic
study with sport and the arts to
achieve excellence in every child’s
education. The school is set in beautiful grounds
where pupils enjoy the benefits of woodland,
gardens, playing fields, swimming pool and
tennis courts.
Children gain the advantage of a head start in the Early Years, culminating
in a dynamic and successful study programme for pupils
aged 11+ to 13. Pupils thrive at Yarrells and we are
ambitious for every child.

01202 622229 www.yarrells.co.uk
28

Why I love

Sandbanks
Dorset Life in Poole asks
what's so special about
Poole's peninsula

Eric Wilson & friends – annual Sandbanks visitors from
the Home Counties
We started coming here with the kids ooh, decades ago. Now the kids have
grown up and go on their own holidays but we still come here, and now we
don't have to come during half-term. There's always something to do on the
water so we'll come down here in the morning, bringing a packed lunch or
nipping across to the mini-mart next to the Watersports academy, then back out
onto the water, back to the hotel to change and then we'll grab something to
eat in one of the restaurants… and then we sleep… we sleep so well down here.
Then, the next morning, we get up and we'll do it all over again.

David Dixon I love the natural surroundings and I'm
a surfer so I'm in the water every day. I live above the
café and I can see the harbour from my bed. I also
love the people; we get all kinds of people coming
in: famous people, wealthy people… people from all
around the area. They've all done interesting things and
been interesting places so, as I go travelling a lot, we
talk about all the places we've been. Lots of regulars
call us by our first names and vice-versa and we've
got one group of people – we call the coffee club –
who come in every day; it's a real community here. In
summer there's a real buzz around the place. In winter,
Sandbanks gets quieter, it's almost like the peninsula
becomes an island… but the waves get better too so I
like it just as much.

Catherine Wyard (and Molly the dog)
We've been coming to Sandbanks for 30 years, first
with the children then on our own. We've got a place
here now, and we can just come down for the weekend.
There are lots of nice places to go and things to see
also lots of places to go with the dogs, and also lots of
places where the dogs can go off the lead….
Which is a must, particularly when – as I have – you've
had a long journey with an excitable dog who needs
to blow off some steam. It's beautiful round here,
whatever the weather.
29

Visit Wimborne Minster
a town for all reasons - a unique destination
The historic market town of
Wimborne Minster: an enticing
blend of old and new
Relax and enjoy the natural beauty of Wimborne’s
setting on the River Allen and the historic
architecture of the Minster Church of St Cuthburga.
Shop in Wimborne’s high-quality modern stores
and charming independent boutiques. The
colourful Town Square and attractive streets offer a
diverse mix of clothing, furnishings, gifts, jewellery,
crafts, books, music, ﬂower and antique shops,
as well as all those handy food, hardware and
everyday stores.

Enjoy a relaxing lunch, a tempting afternoon tea, or
a delicious evening meal in one of a range of places
to eat including cafés, pubs and restaurants.
There are lots of places to visit in this unique town:
the Tivoli Theatre, the famous Model Town, the
Walford Mill craft centre, and the Priest's House
Museum, to name just a few.

Love Wimborne this Christmas
The Christmas lights are switched on the 30th November
following a day of entertainment on the square.
Father Christmas will be in the square on Saturday 30th
November, 7th, 14th and 21st December this year.
The 7th December is another day of Christmas festivities with
something for the children to enjoy.
Wimborne’s Late Night Shopping is Thursday 12th December
with a warm welcome in the town’s many unique shops.
On the 14th December ‘Save the Children’ celebrate their
25th Anniversary with festivities on the square and their annual
Christmas parade in the afternoon.
There is a Carol service in the Cornmarket on Friday 20th
December and the festivities continue in the square on Saturday
21st December.
Monday 23rd December the Dorset Youth Marching Band
support the Mayor's appeal.

What's happening in Wimborne
during the coming year.
These are just some of the events that are already planned.
April 2014
See’s the return of the Busker Bash and the start of Wimborne’s
monthly Artisan Market which will run through to October.
June 2014
The Folk Festival and later in the month the Romans will return.
August 2014
Sting in the Tale
Extreme Sports weekend
Children’s Weekend
October 2014
Wimborne’s Special week incorporating Food & Drink.
November 2014
Literary Festival
Diwali Festival

Wimborne will be sparkling this Christmas
For more information on events taking place in Wimborne please visit the Tourist Information Centre or go to www.wimborneminster.net
This advertisement is published by Wimborne BID Ltd, a Business Improvement District making Wimborne great!

–GLYN BAGLEY–

H A L E & M U R R AY
Est. 1968

BUILDING CONTRACTORS LTD

Custom made Kitchens, Bedrooms, Bathrooms and
Home Office Furniture
Visit our showroom or we’ll visit you in your home
to discuss all your requirements
Supplying you with a full plan & quotation

Diverse Abilities Plus is Dorset’s
only disability charity supporting
children and adults with physical
and learning disabilities, and
their families, through a range
of services.
Langside School provides tailored curriculums for children with
profound and complex disabilities, aged 2 to 19
Children’s respite projects including home support, day and overnight
care, holiday and after-school activities, a youth club and parent support
Adult support including a day opportunities centre and supported living
service helping adults live independently in their own home
Advice service providing assistance for adults and children with
disabilities and anyone in Dorset who needs advice on disability
beneﬁts, lasting power of attorney or deputyship.

www.diverseabilitiesplus.org.uk
01202 718266

You can support the charity through volunteering, fundraising or simply donating.
For more information please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you!
Charity no. 282197

32

Remembering Millie – a
pupil at Langside who
passed away

A sense of education
Sue Weekes visits Langside School to find a school unlike any other
'This is education in the purest sense,' says Jonathan
Seaward, principal of Langside School in Parkstone,
which provides a holistic education for children between
the ages of two and half and nineteen years old who
have profound and multiple learning difficulties. 'You
strip out the fluff, politics and anything else because
it's all about delivering to the nth degree what every
single child needs.' The former deputy head of Stourfield
Junior School in Bournemouth, who arrived at Langside
in September 2012, goes on to explain that the school
achieves this through a sensory approach to learning as
the majority of its children have visual impairments. ‘We
don’t plan teaching around visual studies. It is a sensory
curriculum that aims to get a response from students
whether using sound, taste or smell. When we find out
what they respond to that is what we work on.'
Jonathan is talking from what is the original hall of
the independent school in Langside Avenue, off Alder
Hills, which was established in 1959. ‘This is where it all
began with fifteen pupils and it has grown and grown,’
he says. A nursery session has just concluded and staff
are moving the children into another part of the school.
'You have to accept that everything takes much longer.
All of our children are in wheelchairs and if they have
been working hard, they will be shattered so need some
downtime,' he says.
The school is run by the Dorset-based disability
charity Diverse Abilities Plus (DAP), the roots of
which go back to 1955. It was formed by a group of
parents who were determined that their children with
physical and learning disabilities would be afforded
better opportunities in life and not be placed in an
institution as was the norm then. They were led by
Phyllis Edwards, whose disabled daughter Marilyn was
born in 1948. Through their efforts, the Bournemouth
and District Group National Spastics Society was set up
in 1955 which later evolved into Dorset Scope and then

DAP in 2010. They opened the Stafford Road Rest Centre
in 1956, which Marilyn attended, and then Langside
followed.
Today, Diverse Abilities Plus provides life-long support
for individuals and their parents with its range of
services such as supported living, the Smithers shortstay residential home, Barnabas day centre, the Shapes
Domiciliary Support and more. They are all bound by the
underpinning aim of ensuring those with disabilities
have the right to a lifetime of 'dignity, choice, respect,
inclusion and commitment.' Phyllis, now in her nineties,
is still involved in the work of the charity.
Langside currently has 26 children and by Christmas it
will reach 28 which Jonathan believes is the maximum,
giving them seven pupils per class: 'We could expand but

Rebecca Ford, Isaac
Williams, Jon Seaward
and Gabrielle Lawrence

33

A sense of education
Joshua Balmer from Langside School with Father Christmas

Using other senses than
just sight – for example
the sounds and the
touch sense of wetness
of water – to interact
with children is a way of
engaging with them

34

don't want to become really big. Our staff need to know
the children really well and be able to pick up on signs
if something is wrong. If one of our children needs a
nurse, everywhere is only a few seconds away.'
The school has 50 full- and part-time staff,
made up of five different groups: teachers, nurses,
physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech
and communication specialists. All are vital to serve the
diverse needs of the children. Physiotherapy, for instance,
is part of every child's programme and is necessary to
countenance the effect of being in a wheelchair and aid
their physical development while occupational therapists
ensure they are positioned properly at all times and
can access everything they need to during an activity.
The team of nurses could be called upon at any time
and the school has to administer 70 medications a day.
Meanwhile, communication and speech specialists have
a crucial role in helping the children achieve a level
of independence as they grow up. While it is unlikely
they will ever be able to live independently, Jonathan
explains that even small things like being able to
let someone know what they want to watch on the
television is a major achievement. 'It might seem tiny
but it is hugely powerful to them to have any level of
control,' he explains.
The connection and rapport that Jonathan and his
team have with the children is immediately apparent on
a tour of the school whether it be in the hydrotherapy
pool room or one of the sensory areas. It goes without
saying that trust between the school and its pupils and
parents is of paramount importance. It starts to build on
day one when an individual comes to the school for the
first time and parents are able to remain with them for
a period of time. From then on, it is all about ensuring
staff understand and attend to the precise needs of each
individual. Because many of the children have complex
medical conditions, regular hospital appointments are a
fact of life but to minimise disruption to their education
and ensure continuity for the child, Langside facilitates
a range of clinics on-site at the school with relevant
external health professionals. 'It means the family
has one point of contact and our staff are part of any
discussions about the child,' says Jonathan, who adds
that if a child does have to go to hospital, Langside will
make sure they are accompanied by one of their nurses

or physiotherapists wherever necessary. 'Our people know
the children better than anyone,' says Jonathan. 'So
if a child has to have an operation, for instance, the
physiotherapist will make sure the bed and environment
is correctly set up for them.'
Langside is all about safeguarding the children but
clearly its mission is also to ensure they learn. Like other
specialist schools of its kind, it has been following the
national curriculum, but with the Government giving
all schools more control over what they teach with a
focus on relevancy, Langside has been working on a new
approach to its curriculum, which was part of Jonathan's
remit when he joined. After October half-term, Langside
will start to roll-out 28 individually tailored curriculums
for each of its pupils. It will focus on the sensory
responses and needs of each child, an area in which
the school has long been seen as a centre of excellence.
It has also consulted with external experts, such as
Dr Penny Lacey, programme supervisor for the severe,
profound and multiple learning difficulties programme in
the School of Education at the University of Birmingham.
'A skeleton framework will be introduced first and it
will probably take another two years to fully implement
it. 28 different timetables will be a challenge and there
will probably be timetable clashes, but we have been
working on it solidly for ten months and are confident
it will go in the right direction,' says Jonathan, who
adds that he and his team have also taken care to
ensure it doesn’t ‘dismantle’ all of the great things about
the school and its heritage. 'We want to preserve that
Langside magic and family feel but combine it with a
world-class curriculum so we achieve the best possible
outcome for the children.'
• There are many ways in which the local community can
support the charity and the school. There are fantastic
challenges – running marathons, climbing Kilimanjaro, walking
the Sahara desert – or they can contribute by attending events:
music and dinner evenings, swishing parties, bake sales and so
on. Local people can also volunteer for the charity at events,
painting at Langside School or helping out on outings.
For further information on Diverse Abilities Plus visit
www.diverseabilitiesplus.org.uk or call 01202 718266. Keep
up to date with upcoming events and news from the charity
on Facebook – www.facebook.com/diverseabilitiesplus and via
Twitter - www.twitter.com/diverseability.

NOW AVAILABLE LARGE STOCK OF NATURAL PAVING sandstone and limestone ALL EX STOCK VERY COMPETITIVE PRICES

A chain ferry service for the conveyance of road
vehicles and foot passengers across the narrow mouth of
Poole Harbour has been in operation since 15 July 1926.
The first ferry, coal-fired and steam-driven, was built by
shipbuilders J Samuel White - on the Isle of Wight – and
was capable of carrying twelve cars. During Ferry No 1’s
first summer season it carried 12,000 cars and 100,000
foot passengers across the 320m wide harbour entrance.
A means of linking Sandbanks (North Haven) to
Shell Bay (South Haven) was first raised in 1904 when
a scheme was proposed that would swing cars across
the harbour mouth by means of a cage and chains
arrangement supported by vertical towers. It was refused
by Poole Corporation and Poole Harbour Commissioners.
A bridge was proposed in 1929-30 but the plan was
defeated in the House of Commons. A similar scheme in
1955 also failed.
The present ferry service operated by the
Bournemouth-Swanage Motor Road and Ferry Company
was incorporated by Act of Parliament in July 1923.
Under the provisions of the Act a road between Studland
village and South Haven was constructed on land
acquired from the Bankes Estate and the ferry company
was permitted to charge a toll for its use. At that time
the charge was 2/6d (12.5p today) for a car and driver’s
one-way use of the road and ferry, with an additional 3d
per passenger.
Since the 1980s the company has been owned by
Fairacres Group Ltd, run by Rodney Kean. Mr Kean, and
his family, maintain a great interest in the day to
day operation of the ferry. The present owners have
instigated a number of major improvements, including
the building of new slipways, a modern office at Shell
Bay and new toll booths which operate a computerised
toll system. A new ferry, named after the small bay near
South Haven on the harbour side, was commissioned at
a cost of £3.5m entering service (including the slipway

and marshalling area) in January 1994. The Bramble Bush
Bay is the fourth vessel to operate the ferry service, and
the first to be named. It replaced Ferry No 3 which was
built by J Bolson & Son Ltd in Poole and had been in
service for 35 years. At 74m long, overall, the present
ferry is 24m longer and 3.5m wider than its predecessor
which gives it a much greater carrying capacity of 48
cars.
Perhaps surprisingly for a 750 ton flat-bottomed
vessel, the ferry has a draught of little more than 1m
when fully loaded. Technically speaking, it is a floating
bridge, not a chain ferry. However, the massive chains
that guide it across the harbour mouth are essential
to its operation. The ferry has three diesel engines,
only one of which is used at any time to power, via a
hydraulic pump and motor, the two drive wheels with
which the chains engage to haul the vessel through the
water. Each chain weighs 14 tons and is 386m long. Due
to wear they have to be replaced every 18 months at a
cost of £24,000 each.
The ferry service operates at twenty minute intervals
from 07.00 to 23.00 daily throughout the year, except
during its biennial refit, and on Christmas Day when
the service is 08.00hrs to 18.00hrs. For a refit the
ferry is towed to Marchwood, Southampton, by two
tugs. After a journey of six to seven hours it is winched
onto a slipway at Marchwood Slipways Ltd which is the
nearest facility able to deal with a vessel of such a
size. Testbank Ltd, based at Southampton Docks, is the
contractor who has carried out the most recent refits
involving a thorough overhaul, anti-fouling and painting
of the superstructure. However, the refit in January this
year involved the considerable extra cost of rebuilding
the engines which were nearing the end of their useful
life after nineteen years.
Equipment maintenance is carried out on a day-to-day
basis by the engine attendants, who keep a watchful

The 320m wide harbour
entrance as seen from
the air. Bramble Bush Bay
is waiting at South Haven
for the large incoming
ship to pass through.

37

Ferry nice indeed

Duty Captain Steve
Sabine, in a control cabin,
driving the ferry towards
North Haven

Bramble Bush Bay
nearing North Haven with
its prow up. The black ball
above the control cabin
is a day mark which is
raised when the ferry is
in motion.

38

eye on the engine room below the vehicle deck. Adrian
Saunders has been a Duty Engine Attendant for fifteen
years. During a tour of the extremely noisy engine
room Adrian pointed out some of the main features,
including the engines, drive wheels and hydraulic gear
for operating the prows (loading ramps), as well as a
large steel bucket for collecting seaweed caught in the
chains! The ferry is refuelled with around 5500l of diesel
every two weeks and Adrian estimates the ferry uses
about 400l per day. Once a week the ferry also takes on
water, at North Haven, which is stored in separate tanks
depending on whether it will be used for drinking and
making tea for the crew, or for cooling the engines and
cleaning the vessel.
Steve Sabine is one of seven captains employed by
the company and he proudly refers to his charge as
‘the Queen of the Seas’. It has two control cabins, one
at each end of the vessel with duplicated controls for
varying the speed of the ferry and operating the prows,
as well as various switches for the lighting and alarms.
Essential kit is the VHF radio tuned to Channel 16 for
contact with other vessels and Poole Harbour Control.
Before getting under way a duty captain hoists the black

ball above the control cabin which serves as a day-mark
to warn other vessels that the ferry is about to leave. A
white light after dusk achieves the same purpose.
After two years as an engine attendant, Steve
received training to be a captain from the other skippers.
He says, 'Driving the ferry takes a lot of commonsense,
foresight and forethought. There’s a fair amount of
responsibility and a lot to consider, especially during
the peak season.' Of particular importance to the safe
passage of the ferry across the busy channel are other
vessels entering or leaving the harbour. The present
rule regarding the ferry’s Right of Way over craft up to
50m in length was introduced in recent years by Poole
Harbour Commissioners. But although this makes a
captain’s job a little easier, constant vigilance is crucial.
Steve explains, 'If there’s a flood tide you’re looking out
past channel buoy to see what’s coming in. Conversely,
if it’s an ebb tide you’re looking as far as you can past
North Haven to see what’s coming round the corner.
Ultimately, if you think there’s going to be a close call,
you’ve got sound signals. We have two powerful air
horns. In fog, we sound one long blast followed by two
short blasts. In normal visibility if you’re not sure of
somebody’s intentions, then it’s five short blasts.'
Although extreme weathers rarely prevent the ferry
from operating, duty captains have to take into account
states of the tide and wind direction. A strong southwesterly can blow the ferry to one side making alignment
with the slipway and lowering the prow difficult. When
Brittany Ferries, Barfleur or Cotentin are about to enter
the harbour mouth, Poole Harbour Commissioners require
the ferry to wait at South Haven, unless an emergency
should dictate otherwise, in order that the larger vessels
may use the deepest part of the nominally 17m deep
channel towards the north side.
Vehicle loading may appear to be random, but it
isn’t. One lane is wider in order to accommodate buses,
coaches and trucks. Emergency vehicles, including bomb
disposal units, take priority and the duty captain will
wait for them to arrive if notified in advance by radio.
Bramble Bush Bay has a minimum crew of two, a
duty captain and an engine attendant who at quiet
times will also collect tickets on the vehicle deck,
direct vehicles and open and close the gates. At peak
times during summer three or more additional staff
perform these duties. The company currently employs
27 permanent staff, some of which are part-time, and
up to eight part-time seasonal staff. Neil McCheyne is
the General Manager in overall charge of the day to day
running of the company, assisted by Operations Manager
Nick Purchase and Admin Manager Sue Marsh who are
based in the Shell Bay offices.
For the many thousands of people who use the ferry
every year, the short journey across the harbour mouth
may be all too brief. But making the trip regularly is not
just everyday work for Steve Sabine. 'The best part of the
job is that the control cabin is my office,' he admits. 'I
have one of the best jobs in the world that is food for
the soul. I’m responsible for 48 cars, 500 people and
maybe eight crew members on a ferry crossing a small
stretch of water in one of the most beautiful locations
on the south coast of England. And how lucky is that!'
• www.sandbanksferry.co.uk

Plan your funeral,
then enjoy the rest
of your life...
Dorset independent and family
owned Funeral Directors
A Dorset Funeral Plan is the practical answer to rising funeral costs.
Giving you personal choice at today’s prices, regardless of when the funeral may be
needed. The Dorset Funeral Plan is provided by your local, independent funeral
director with an established reputation for quality of service.
Our funeral plan has the following practical benefits:
• You choose your own funeral arrangements, for your own peace of mind.
• Plans are provided by local, Dorset Family-owned Independent Funeral Directors
• You save your family from having to make difficult decisions, trying to guess what
you would have wanted at a distressing time.
• All options are clearly specified with fixed prices.
• You can make a single payment, or pay by monthly
instalments if you prefer.
• Financial security – the funeral payment is held
in Funeral Planning Trust until it is needed.

THE DORSET FUNERAL PLAN

To find out more about our pre-paid
funeral plans contact your local funeral
director or visit our website:

On the
waterfront
What makes Poole Museum
special? Who better to ask than
former peripatetic archaeologist
and Local History Manager,
David Watkins, who celebrates
30 years at the museum in 2014.
Walking into Poole's History Centre one is greeted by
the sight, dead ahead on a mezzanine, of a desk bearing
– in this era of online digital research – a pleasingly
analogue collection of papers. Sitting behind the desk
is Local History Manager David Watkins, who joined the
museum in 1984.
Prior to his arrival, David was: 'an itinerant
archaeologist. I used to live in an old ambulance and travel
from site to site'. It is a somewhat incongruous mental
image to reconcile with the tweed-jacketed figure sitting
in the museum, but his archaeological background is
well suited to a job at the museum in Poole which has a
wealth of history which can be neatly broken down into
three strands: the town's archaeological riches, its broad
maritime history and the industrial and social history of
the town.
These three nicely match the three component parts,
which make up what is now Poole Museum: Scaplens
Court, a maritime museum and the Local History Centre.
Appropriately, given these strands, it is housed in part of
what was once the largest medieval maritime woolhouse in
northern Europe. The museum underwent a massive £1.3m
regeneration in 2006/7, during which it acquired not only
a striking new atrium entrance, but a place to display a
single object that is a metaphor for the whole museum:
the world-famous Poole logboat, a 2200-plus-year-old
vessel, hewn from a single oak, which was discovered
during a dredging operation in Poole Harbour. Next year
marks the golden anniversary of that discovery in 1964,
after which, the ten-metre-long boat was submerged
in water for three decades until a suitable means of
preserving it could be found.
It is, perhaps unsurprisingly given his background,
David's favourite piece in the museum – although he was
keen to point out the world-class collections of Poole
Pottery and work of important Poole artists like Bernard
Gribble before naming it so. The reason David likes it is,
though, an unusual one: 'We still don't know what it was
for. It's a great symbol of Poole Harbour and the most
impressive Celtic artefact we have, but we don't know if it

was a ceremonial boat, a transport or something else.'
That explanation is revealing in the fact that museums
are not just places where things go to, well, just be; rather
they are places where the object itself is just the beginning
of an explanation as to what life was like in a particular
place and for the people of that time. Curating is an
ongoing activity, and just as these days, history is about so
much more than just Kings and Queens, so museums help
us to see how we as individuals fit into the continually
woven tapestry of people and place.
All of which, along with the Museum's quayside
location – and the fact that it is a welcome haven on
those days when Dorset's weather proves to be just as
English as anywhere else, goes partway to explaining how
the museum welcomed 120,000 people through its doors
last year. With a collection numbering roughly 50,000
objects – and that number is increasing – including its
internationally important maritime archaeology and
ceramics collections, there is a lot to see and to explore at
the museum.
Restored in 1929 by the Society of Poole Men, the
adjacent Scaplen's Court – Poole's most complete domestic
medieval building, is another example of the way that the
museum (which uses the building for its learning service)
interacts with the townspeople. As well as its year-round
educational function, Scaplen's Court is open to the
public in August and the Tudor Herb and Physic Garden,
which was restored by volunteers in 2001, is open all

Poole Museum's Atrium
– just one element of the
£1.3million regeneration

41

On the waterfront

Poole Museum's Local
History Centre –housed
in what was once the
largest woolhouse in
northern Europe

David Watkins in front of
his favourite exhibit at the
museum: Poole's worldfamous logboat

summer. The fact that the fireplaces within Scaplen's Court
have Civil War-era graffiti carved into them, possibly by
Parliamentarian troops stationed there when it was known
as the George Inn, makes history palpable to the youngest
of visitors. For those in the 8-16-years old bracket who
catch the archaeology bug, Poole Museum's Young
Archaeologists Club is part of an organisation run by the
Council for British Archaeology, which organises monthly
activities to enable engaged children to learn more.
The spread of eras that the museum covers – from prehistory to the present day – is an ambitious one, but as
David says: 'The archaeological exploration of Poole was
particularly vigorous during the 1980s and 1990s and a lot
of artefacts were collected. At the museum we concentrate
on the story of Poole, Poole people and maritime heritage…,
and a lot of that story dates from Medieval and Georgian
times when the town and port were particularly active;
that activity has been reflected in the finds from our
archaeological sites.'

David himself was part of a team which excavated a
Poole factory in Thames Street, in which was found the
remains of a medieval boat yard, but which may itself
have been built on the site of earlier Tudor and Roman
boat-builders; the boat-building story continues to this
day, albeit on the other side of the Quay, and in an entirely
different market.
Whilst there is little doubt that (by and large) the closer
one gets to present day, the more records there are, it is
sometimes the areas where there is least known that are
the most interesting to museum professionals – sometimes
that is the personal stories of ordinary people whose letters
and conversations with still-living relatives reveal snippets
of the fascinatingly different lives led by those alive less
than a century ago. But sometimes it is the discovery of
a single artefact that keeps everyone guessing as to the
stories behind it which is the most intriguing of all.
So what does David himself think that the logboat was
used for? He smiles as he pauses: 'I guess we'll never know,
which is part of its charm.'

FURTHER INFORMATION
For more information about Poole Museum, at
4 High Street (BH15 1BW) call 01202 262600 or
visit www.boroughofpoole.com/leisure-and-culture/
museums-and-local-history/
From November to March, Poole Museum is closed
on Mondays, open Tuesday- Saturday: 10.00-4.00,
Sunday 12.00-4.00. The exhibition 'Painting Drama at
Sea: Bernard Gribble 1872-1962' is currently running
and will do so until February 2014.
The Poole History Centre is open Tuesday - Saturday
10.00-3.00 (closed on Tuesdays following a Bank
Holiday). 01202 262621/262613
42

Dickinson Manser LLP, Solicitors in Poole
and Broadstone, have managed to buck
the trend in 2013 to announce very
considerable growth.
Although the property market is not what
it was in the mid-2000s, the firm has seen
25% growth in its residential conveyancing
practice, with more modest growth in the
commercial property sector. Managing
Partner Mark Daniels, who works in the
firm’s Property/Commercial Department,
puts this down to an excellent team
which provides a personal service in the
way clients want it, at a reasonable price.
Most new work is either from existing
clients or by recommendation. The firm
has built up close working relationships
with local independent estate agents,
who refer clients to the firm based entirely
on the service provided and not due to
payment of a referral fee.
The other area of significant growth for
the firm in 2013 has been in its Private
Client Department, with 23% growth
on last year. The firm has one of the
largest Private Client departments in
the area, acting for many generations
of families in producing Wills, Lasting
Powers of Attorney, setting up trusts,
winding up estates, elderly client services
and Inheritance Tax planning. Where

independent financial advice is required,
the firm has excellent links with local IFAs.
Senior Partner Gary Pick, who works in
Private Client, congratulates everyone on
their efforts, which have enabled the firm
to have done so well in still difficult market
conditions.
Increased work volumes in Private
Client have necessitated two significant
recruitments. Lloyd Thomas joined the
firm in August to support the current
Head of Department, Sarah Richards, as
an important part of the firm’s succession
planning. Lloyd attended Poole Grammar
School, then Exeter University, training
at a well-regarded Bournemouth firm.
He qualified as a solicitor in 2005, and in
2006 joined the private client department
of a Hampshire firm,
becoming Head of
Department in 2010.
While there, Lloyd
played a key role
in the development
and expansion of
the firm’s services
to private clients.
Lloyd has significant experience in acting
for high-net-worth individuals and families,
including those with business interests.
He also advises on disputed estates

and those involving a foreign element,
with assets or beneficiaries abroad.
Lloyd is a full member of STEP (the
Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners)
after several years of study and testing
examinations. Lloyd is also a member of
the Law Society’s Private Client Section
and sits on the General Committee of the
Bournemouth & District Law Society.
In June, the ﬁrm also
recruited
Martha
Swann to its Private
Client Department.
Martha grew up
and
trained
in
South-West London
following a degree in
Theology at Durham
University. After an initial job in IT sales
and recruitment, she decided that the
law was for her and soon specialised
in private client work. Following a spell
at a well-regarded firm in Worthing, she
moved to Poole to join Dickinson Manser,
where her talents will be fully utilised.
For further information on our
Residential Conveyancing services,
please contact Mark Daniels mjd@
dmsolicitors.co.uk or for our Private
Client services, please contact Sarah
Richards slr@dmsolicitors.co.uk.

More than a
hi-viz deterrent
Nick Churchill meets the team keeping Poole neighbourhoods safer
They’re an echo of the semi-mythical ‘Bobby on the

‘There are three elements to our job –
• Victim First, which is where we support victims of crime
beat’, the old-fashioned copper who knew everyone and
and make sure it doesn’t happen to them again;
kept the streets safe with a word here and a nod there, but
• Offender management, where we identify a problem
the Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT) are a thoroughly
person and build a package around them with the
modern arm of 21st-century policing.
support of our partners and
Not for them the firm-but• Community engagement, which gets us talking to
fair overseer of yore, these
residents and identifying particular problems.’
police officers talk about
Working in shifts, the team
‘partner organisations’,
– a sergeant, two police officers
‘resource pictures’, ‘offender
and two Police Community
management’ and ‘community
engagement’. They’re just as
Support Officers (PCSOs) – divide
their time between patrolling,
firm and fair, but it’s a good day
meeting with partner
for them if they prevent a crime
organisations and issuing
– and that is just as likely to be
advice. There’s also plenty
by simply being there as it is by
of paperwork and mucking
‘nicking’ someone.
in with regular police work that
David Parr, team sergeant
could take them from one end of Poole
for the Parkstone, Penn Hill and
to the other and even over to the Purbecks.
Canford Cliffs SNT (which also includes
Strange, but the team doesn’t have a dedicated
Sandbanks), is quite clear about it – this
car: ‘It’s an issue,’ says Sgt Parr, bluntly.
model of policing works well.
‘SNTs have been around a good eight years
‘It means we can be a mile from an incident, the
now,’ he says. ‘The public like them
closest officer by far and yet someone five miles
because they see uniforms on the
away in a car gets there first. It’s not ideal and we
street and we get to know an area
Above hope it gets resolved soon.’
well enough to know where trouble
His colleague PCSO Lindy Wilson puts a more
The area
covered by the positive spin on it, pointing out that it actually makes
comes from, what it is likely to be
Safer Neighbourhood Team them more visible: ‘It could take me an hour to walk
and how to stop it.
45

Sian Court

More than a hi-viz deterrent
Sgt David Parr and PCSO Emma Harries share a joke

Sian Court

between appointments, but that’s an hour I’m on the street.
You never know what you’re going to walk into around the
next corner, which is the great thing about the job – it’s
different every day. We use the bus a lot as well and the
train, or we get lifts from one of the patrol cars.’
And then there are the bikes. If there’s a sight that’s
sure to invoke John Major’s fabled ‘long shadows on
county grounds, warm beer (and) invincible green suburbs’
it’s a policeman on a bicycle.
The robust Raleigh Superb with its complete chain
guard has been replaced by a lightweight Smith & Wesson
machine and the boys in blue are now the boys and girls in
hi-viz yellow, but it gets them around.
‘People are far more likely to share something with us
if we’re out and about,’ says PC Simon Bridge. ‘It’s a vital
part of our intelligence gathering. People who probably
wouldn’t pick up the phone or come to the station will
have a chat and tell you things that help us build a bigger
picture.’
Within the SNT there are different roles as the police
officers, with the legal powers and training to use them,
lean towards offender management and the PCSOs
concentrate on community engagement and victim liaison.
‘It’s a complete package,’ says Sgt Parr, ‘just like our work
on the ground as an SNT supports the response teams or
the traffic officers. All of us feed intelligence to each other.
‘We know that in our area residents are particularly
concerned with speeding cars so we’re doing some work
on that. They’re also concerned with dog poo in parks, but
that’s less of a priority for us. We know there may have
been a spate of burglaries that residents don’t know about
because it hasn’t happened to them so it’s our job to know
what crime is happening and ensure measures are put in
place to combat it.
‘We’ve had a particular problem with vehicle crime, but
nearly 70 per cent of thefts are from unlocked vehicles.

PCSO Lindy Wilson and
PC Simon Bridge get on
their bikes

46

I met one person who’d had things stolen from their
car for the third time. I tried the car door and it was
unlocked. If people took a few simple measures, such
as locking their car doors and keeping valuables out of
sight, we’d take away nearly 70 per cent of vehicle crime
in the neighbourhood, freeing up our time to go out on
residential streets with speed guns to combat speeding.’
He takes a similarly methodical view of preventing crime
by managing those who perpetrate it: ‘We’ve got dwelling
burglary under control, but one burglar active twice a
night for a week because they’ve got a drug or alcohol
dependency can seriously change that. Suddenly we’ve
got 14 burglaries to deal with in one week. This is a very
affluent neighbourhood so criminals tend to travel to it.
If word gets out there are rich pickings, maybe a criminal
spends a night trying the handles of parked cars, then we
get their associates or rivals coming over to try their luck
as well. But if we know someone is a problem, we can
work closely with partner agencies in housing and social
welfare to target them from many angles. If someone
has dependency issues we can meet with rehab teams to
ensure they get the help they need. If they get help with
dependency they’re not so likely to break into people’s
houses.
‘And if there’s no other way, let’s get them in prison as
quickly as possible – capture and conviction removes them
from the streets and stops the crime.’
Like every force in the country, Dorset Police faces
stringent budget cuts. It must save £22.5 million – 16 per
cent of total spend – and by the end of 2015 the force will
have 310 fewer staff, a decrease of 21 per cent.
So what does the future hold for the SNT?
‘I believe we have a system that works very well with
the resources we’ve got,’ says Sgt Parr. ‘But if that resource
picture changes then so must the model and you might see
a merger of the response and SNT function. Everything’s
under review, that’s just one alternative model, so who
knows?’
• You can call Parkstone, Penn Hill and Canford Cliffs SNT
on 101 or use the contact form at www.dorset.police.uk
If a crime is in progress or life is in danger, please dial 999

A Family Business of Quiet, Efficient & Personal Service
with distinctive Dark Pacific Blue Jaguar Fleet
One of the remaining independent firms
of Funeral Directors; professional
supervision by Trevor or Adrian Tomes
can help to make arrangements more personal.
Pre-Arrangement/Pre-Payment Plans Available
BARHAM HOUSE, 31/33 TOWER ROAD, BOSCOMBE, BOURNEMOUTH

From left to right:
Lawrence Taft, Jeremy
Nickolls and John
Gardner outside the
chandlery part of
Piplers

From blank canvas
to old master
Piplers of Poole has been a fixture on Poole Quay for 147 years.
Joël Lacey found out more
‘We’re looking for an anchor for a fifteen-foot dory,’

finesses the statement a little: ‘John is a typical customer.’
Typical, that is, in the sense of being profoundly
said a young man, in response to Piplers of Poole’s Jeremy
interested in what they do. Both the General Manager,
Nickolls asking if he could help. It’s a request that could
Lawrence Taft, and John have Yachtmaster certificates
have been made at pretty much any point over the last
(sail); Jeremy has the same
200 years, but also one
qualification for powered
which could have been made
boats. When someone comes
in this particular location for
in asking for a piece of kit,
the last 147. Jeremy steered
chances are someone at the
them to a display of an
store will have used it.
impressive array of anchors
Lawrence, who joined
of all shapes and sizes.
The breadth and depth
Piplers as a 'Saturday boy' a
year after the company had
of the objects available is
been taken over by John and
rather bewildering to the
Catherine Gardner in 1999,
non-enthusiast: within a
explains the changes: 'Since
few feet, one could choose
2000, we've quadrupled
between a small grapplingturnover and, whereas back
hook style anchor for £6.99, A billboard-festooned Pipler & Son in its original site on the Quay
then we would carry around
to one as big as a man and a
2500 stock lines, we now stock nearer 15,000 items.'
good deal heavier, for £7999. But how to choose?
This encompasses everything from tiny stainless-steel
John Gardner exlains: 'The strength of Piplers is that
shackles, hats, charts, radar and electronic navigation,
we're all "boaties". Everyone who works here is interested
in anything to do with the water.’ His wife, Catherine,
crockery, fenders, passerelles, davits, outboards and RIBs.
49

From blank canvas to old master

Pipler & Son in the interwar years – sandwiched
between H&A Burden Ltd
and the Harbour Office –
on a Poole Quay, thronged
by visitors

This small section of the
selection of shackles
available gives an idea of
how one gets to 15,000
stock items in one store

50

Technology has certainly evolved over the last fourteen
years, but that is nothing new when it comes to supplying
the needs of the sailors – both leisure and professional,
who have for centuries stopped at Poole Quay.
If you look at any historical pictures of Poole Quay, you
will normally find the word Piplers peeping out from one
of a number of hoardings in the old pictures. Piplers has
a history in three parts: the world of sail, the world of
steam and then finally the modern age. Their proximity
to the quay was and is central to their work as chandlers;
the origin of the word chandler lies in the production
and selling of candles, but later came to have the broader
meaning of a dealer – often to do with maritime supplies.
Founded in the mid 1860s, Pipler & Son started off –
at least insofar as the casual observer of one of these
Victorian photos could establish – from selling, letting or
hiring anything which was made of, or included canvas or
rope. Products and services advertised included sail-making,
a sail loft for pre-made sails, loose canvas and rope – for

those who needed to make their own sails or sheets as
well as tarpaulins, flags, tents, and marquees for purchase
or hire and even making outside-sprung roller blinds.
Technology in the ship-building world changed over
the next 100 years and, although some elements of the
business remained unchanged as they sat cheek by jowl
with H&A Burden's yacht chandlery (see October 2013
issue for more on Harry Burden), the move from sail to
steam obviously had a large impact on the nature of the
products being sold. When Burdens moved from the quay
in 1963, Piplers took up the slack, as it were, and switched
emphasis from being chandlers to merchant ships, to
catering for the burgeoning leisure-craft market; they
became yacht, rather than ship, chandlers.
This year, therefore marks the 50th anniversary of that
switch of emphasis and just as technology influenced
the business in its early days, so the present owners and
operators of the company have to keep pace with the everchanging world of maritime technology.
The quay itself has changed character since John took
over the company. Where once, yachts would tie-up
directly outside the shop – and people walking along
the quayside of an evening would be able to look down
into the cabin, pleasure yachts now tie-up in the marina.
John is torn as to whether this is a good thing or not: ‘as
someone visiting, I’d probably rather be at a berth in a
marina, but I feel the quay has lost something without
yachts tying up alongside…, and it is obviously better for
us if they can just walk five yards to come in.’
The company – and its staff members’ connection with
sail also extends to their sponsorship of various classes and
competitions at Poole Yacht Club over the years, and then
there is the fact that Piplers will soon be the owners of a
Sigma 8 racing boat. Then there are the shows – Piplers
attends both the major boat shows in the UK, and these
stands are often staffed by former and returning Piplers
staff who know the shows and the store. ‘We have a pool
of people we can call on to staff the shows,’ says Lawrence.
In 2008, Piplers expanded into the building next door –
Yeatman’s Old Mill, which is where the ‘hardware’ part of
the chandlers is; the existing (original) Piplers building is
now the home to the ‘software’: charts, clothes, hats and
all the non-hardware elements.
Looking around the quay John sees much that has
changed: ‘Sunseeker is huge now and have really developed
the other side of the quay; the ferry boats have taken over
on this quayside and the quay, but there’s still working
merchant vessels coming in.’
John himself was in the merchant navy prior to working
for Esso and then for chart-suppliers Kelvin Hughes and
finally taking charge of Piplers. Lawrence started his sailing
career in Cheshire before his family moved down to Poole
and his providential interview for a position at Piplers.
‘That was the last time I wore a proper pair of trousers,’ he
remembers.
Although the dress code at Piplers is casual, and the
atmosphere with the customers relaxed – just two people,
interested in sailing, discussing the relative merits of a
piece of kit – the position of Piplers both physically, in
terms of its quayside location, and philosophically, in terms
of trying to ensure that sailors are properly equipped for
whatever voyage on which they are about to embark, has
altered little in the last 147 years.